• Visit the White House Visitor Center
• Explore President's Park South
• Explore Lafayette Park
• Activities Calendar

White House Visitor Center

• Walk through six permanent exhibits relating to the White House including the First Families In the White House, Symbols and Images, White House Architecture, White House Interiors, Working White House, and Ceremonies and Celebration.

• View a 30-minute video "Where History Lives" (closed-captioned for the hearing impaired)

• Visit the White House Historical Association Museum shop

• Participate in our interpretive programs, living history programs, military concerts or guest lectures. Look for a park ranger or volunteer for more current information on these programs.

• Stop at the information booth for a free map and brochures.

• The White House Visitor Center is housed in Baldrige Hall, named for Secretary of Commerce Malcolm Baldrige (1981-85). When the new Department of Commerce building opened in 1932, this space originally served as the Patent Search Room. For the next 35 years, researchers came to Baldrige Hall to search more than three million patents catalogued by the Commerce Department. Baldrige Hall's rich historic legacy, stately architectural features, and proximity to the White House made it an ideal location for the White House Visitor Center, which opened in 1995. Click the link (http://www.osec.doc.gov/oas/obm.htm) to see images and other information on the history of Baldrige Hall and its use.

President's Park South

• Stroll through the park.

• Walk a lap or two around the Ellipse sidewalk. (one lap = 0.6 mile)

• Learn about the Ellipse, First Division Monument, General William T. Sherman Monument, Butt-Millet Fountain, Haupt Fountains, District Patentees Memorial, Boy Scout Memorial, Zero Milestone, Second Division Memorial, Bullfinch Gatehouses, and National Christmas Tree

• Find the "BIG RED ONE" flower bed during the spring and summer seasons.

• Participate in annual special events such as the Easter Egg Roll, White House Fall and Spring Garden Tours, or Christmas Pageant of Peace; stop by the Ellipse Visitor Pavilion or the White House Visitor Center for the most current schedule.

• Observe park wildlife such as gray squirrels, migratory birds, and an occasional sighting of a red-tailed hawk, or bald eagle. For your safety, please do not feed the squirrels. They will bite.

• Take photographs of the White House, Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial and the surrounding monuments and buildings.

Lafayette Park

• Stroll through the park.

• View the manicured grounds and gardens.

• Learn about the history of five statues in Lafayette Park. In the center stands an equestrian statue of President Andrew Jackson, and in the four corners are statues of Revolutionary War heroes: France's General Marquis Gilbert de Lafayette and Major General Comte Jean de Rochambeau; Poland's General Thaddeus Kosciuszko; and Prussia's Major General Baron Frederich Wilhelm von Steuben.

• Take photographs of the White House, Lafayette Park and the surrounding buildings and monuments.